5.  The applicants were born in 1940, 1969 and 1943 respectively. They live in the Chechen Republic (Chechnya).
6.  The first applicant is the father of Usman Umalatov, born in 1969. The second applicant is his wife. The third applicant is the father of Shamad Durdiyev, born in 1976.
7.  The applicants stated that on 15 October 2002 at 7.00 a.m. a joint operation of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Ministry of the Interior and the military took place in the village of Nagornoye situated in the Grozny district of Chechnya.
8.  Usman Umalatov was apprehended in his home in Nagornoye in the presence of his next-of-kin, including the second applicant, and brought to the FSB office for the Nadterechny district in the village of Znamenskoye.
9.  Shamad Durdiyev lived in Beno-Yurt and worked as a driver for the Grozny Town Prosecutor's Office. On 15 October 2002 at about 6 a.m. he left his home village and went towards Grozny in his service car, a black “Volga”. On the same day he was apprehended during the security operation and brought to the FSB office in Znamenskoye.
10.  Two or three days later nine men apprehended on that day in Nagornoye were released, but Usman Umalatov and Shamad Durdiyev were not among them.
11.  The applicants have had no news of Usman Umalatov and Shamad Durdiyev since 15 October 2002.
12.  In support of their allegations, the applicants submitted the statements of the first and second applicants, as well as an affidavit signed by eight men who had been detained on 15 October 2002 together with Usman Umalatov.
13.  In their observations the Government confirmed that both men had been detained on 15 October 2002 in Nagornoye in the course of a special security operation. Later on the same day they were transferred to the FSB office in Znamenskoye and then released after their identities had been ascertained.
14.  Since 15 October 2002 the applicants have repeatedly applied in person and in writing to various public bodies. In their letters to the authorities the applicants and their family members referred to their relatives' detention and asked for assistance and details of the investigation. These enquiries have mostly remained unanswered, or purely formal replies have been given in which the applicants' requests have been forwarded to various prosecutors' offices. The applicants submitted some of the letters to the authorities and the replies to the Court, which are summarised below.
15.  The first applicant submitted that several days after his son's disappearance the head of the FSB office for the Nadterechny district had told him in a personal conversation that Usman Umalatov and Shamad Durdiyev had been released on the day of their detention. However, they have not been found since.
16.  On 24 October 2002 an investigator of the prosecutor's office of the Urus-Martan district of Chechnya opened criminal proceedings (case file no. 65049) in response to the first applicant's complaint about his son's abduction. The investigator noted that the applicant's son had been taken into custody by unknown masked persons and taken away to an unknown destination. It appears that at some later point the investigation was transferred to the Nadterechny district prosecutor's office (“the district prosecutor's office”).
17.  On 25 October 2002 the first applicant was granted victim status in the proceedings.
18.  On 29 January 2003 the investigator of the district prosecutor's office adjourned the criminal proceedings given the failure to identify the persons against whom the charges must be brought (Article 208, part 1, item 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The investigator's decision instructed the Nadterechny district department of the Ministry of the Interior (ROVD) to search for Usman Umalatov and the persons responsible for his disappearance. No new information was communicated to the first applicant following his subsequent complaints and requests to the prosecutor's office.
19.  On 2 March 2004 the first applicant complained of unlawful inaction of the investigation authorities to the Nadterechny district court (“the district court”) under Article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
20.  On 29 March 2004 the district court dismissed the first applicant's complaint as he had failed to appear before the court. The summons to appear before the court reached the local post office at his place of residence only on 31 March 2004.
21.  On 6 April 2004 the first applicant lodged with the district court a new complaint under Article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure concerning the lack of an effective investigation into his son's disappearance. This complaint was dismissed on 13 April 2004 as no breach of procedural requirements had been found.
22.  The first applicant allegedly received this judgment on 12 May 2004 and requested the president of the court to restore the ten-day time-limit for lodging a cassation appeal against the judgment. The applicant's request was dismissed by the district court on 28 June 2004. Following the applicant's appeal, the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic upheld the latter decision by the district court.
23.  On an unspecified date, the district prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings (case file no. 65048) on account of Shamad Durdiyev's abduction.
24.  On 25 October 2002 the third applicant was granted victim status in those proceedings. The investigator's decision indicated that on 15 October 2002 around 6 a.m. Shamad Durdiyev had gone in his own car in the direction of Grozny where he worked as a driver for the Grozny town prosecutor. On his way he was arrested in the village of Nagornoye by the FSB officers and brought to the FSB office for the Nadterechny district in the village of Znamenskoye. According to statements by unnamed FSB officials quoted by the investigator, Shamad Durdiyev was released on the same date.
25.  The third applicant alleged that Shamad Durdiyev's car remained at the office of the FSB in Znamenskoye for several days and was later transferred to the Grozny town prosecutor's office. He also claimed that the FSB had transferred to the Grozny town prosecutor's office a request to dismiss Shamad Durdiyev from service, allegedly written by his son on 14 October 2002. It does not appear that any investigative steps were taken in this direction.
26.  At some point the military prosecutor's office also conducted an investigation into Shamad Durdiyev's abduction. On 20 December 2002 the military prosecutor of army unit no. 20111 decided to return the relevant criminal file (no. 34/34/0117-02d) to the district prosecutor's office for further investigation. The military prosecutor found it established that Shamad Durdiyev had been apprehended on 15 October 2002 by the authorities during a joint operation by the district military commander's office, ROVD and FSB, brought to the FSB office in Znamenskoye for questioning and had left the said office in an unknown direction. The military prosecutor concluded that it had not been established that military personnel were responsible for his disappearance.
27.  On 24 January 2003 the district prosecutor's office adjourned the criminal proceedings (case file no. 65048) given the failure to identify the persons against whom the charges must be brought. The investigator's decision instructed the Nadterechny ROVD to search for Shamad Durdiyev and for the persons responsible for his disappearance.
28.  The third applicant's subsequent complaints and requests to the Chechen prosecutor's office and to the head of the Presidential Administration of Chechnya in connection with his son's disappearance remained without effect.
29.  On 29 July 2004 the third applicant complained of unlawful inaction of the investigation authorities before the president of the district court under Article 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. On 23 August 2004 the district court dismissed his complaint and found the decision of 24 January 2004 to adjourn the proceedings to be well founded. The applicant did not appeal.
30.  With reference to the information provided by the Prosecutor General's Office, the Government submitted that the investigations of the abduction of Usman Umalatov and Shamad Durdiyev had failed to solve the crimes. In their observations they also submitted additional information about the progress of the investigation and some copies of documents from the files (11 pages). They did not submit copies of any of the witness statements to which they referred.
31.  The documents and the observations confirm that both men were detained on 15 October 2002 during a large security operation. The Government submitted copies of three documents relevant to this operation. The order by the military commander of the Nadterechny district of 14 October 2002 gave instructions to carry out a joint operation involving about 250 servicemen of the Ministry of the Interior, FSB and the military commander's office in order to find members of an illegal armed group who had killed three servicemen of the military commander's office on 1 October 2002, and who had apparently been hiding in Nagornoye. As regards the possibility of detaining suspect individuals, the order contained the following indications: “upon identification of persons wanted upon suspicion of involvement in crimes committed by illegal armed groups, they should be detained, brought to the filtration point and later delivered to the ROVD for the carrying out of investigative actions; if active resistance is met, measures should be taken to neutralise or destroy them”.
32.  The order of the Ministry of the Interior for the district, also dated 14 October 2002, contained similar provisions. Finally, on 15 October 2002 the head of the detachments of the Ministry of the Interior based in the district produced a report on the results of the operation. It listed thirteen men who had been detained in Nagornoye on that day on suspicion of being involved with illegal armed groups, and who had been questioned, fingerprinted and delivered to the ROVD. Shamad Durdiyev and Usman Umalatov were listed among the thirteen men.
33.  As to Usman Umalatov, the Government submitted that the investigation commenced on 24 October 2002 by the Urus-Martan district prosecutor's office under Article 126 part 2 of the Criminal Code – aggravated kidnapping. The investigation had been triggered by the first applicant's complaint to the Nadterechny district prosecutor's office of 21 October 2002 about the arrest of his son early in the morning on 15 October 2002 by the local FSB.
34.  On 25 October 2002 the authorities questioned the first applicant and granted him the status of a victim in the proceedings. He had stated that his son had been detained at the district department of the FSB, but that the head of the department, Mr Kh.M., had assured him that he had personally let his son out of the building. The first applicant also mentioned that Mr A.K., who had been detained with his son, had returned home on 17 October 2002.
35.  On 4 November 2002 the investigator examined the registration log of the Nadterechny ROVD and noted that Usman Umalatov had been delivered there at 10 a.m. on 15 October 2002 for an identity check and that at the same time he had been transferred to the district department of the FSB for further investigation.
36.  It does not appear that any additional steps were taken in the investigation into Usman Umalatov's disappearance after this point.
37.  As to Shamad Durdiyev, criminal investigation file no. 65048 was opened on 24 October 2002 in response to the third applicant's letter of 21 October 2002. Within the following days the third applicant was questioned and granted the status of a victim in the criminal case. On 30 October 2002 the investigation was forwarded to the military prosecutor of Chechnya and on 15 November 2002 the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20111 took charge of the proceedings.
38.  According to the Government, in November 2002 the military prosecutor questioned a number of officials and servicemen of the Nadterechny district who had been in charge of or had participated in the operation. Among them were the deputy military commander of the district and the commander of the platoon who had taken part in the operation, the head of the ROVD and several officials of the district FSB. The Government related the statements of the head of the district department of the FSB Mr Kh.M. in the following manner:
“On 2 October 2002 [we] received information that members of the illegal armed groups which had attacked the Nadterechny district commander's office were hiding in Nagornoye. As a result of the attack three servicemen of the commander's office had been killed. On this basis a special operation was planned. Upon agreement with the military commanders of Chechnya and of the Nadterechny district, on 14 October 2002 an order was issued to include in the operation the servicemen of the military commander's office, of the Ministry of the Interior and of the district department of the FSB. At the northern entrance to the village, on the road between Goragorsk and Grozny, an armoured personnel carrier (APC-80) was positioned in order to block the traffic and to protect the temporary point of gathering of the detainees. A black GAZ 3102 “Volga” vehicle arrived from Goragorsk at high speed, and having nearly collided with the APC, turned around and tried to leave towards Goragorsk. The police officers who had manned the block gave chase and fired shots in the air, after which the vehicle stopped. The police officers checked the documents of the driver, Shamad Durdiyev, and doubted their authenticity. On the same day at about 1 p.m. Shamad Durdiyev was brought to the district department of the FSB for a complete check. 12 other persons were also detained in the course of the operation, of whom two – Usman Umalatov and Mr A.K. – were also brought to the FSB department. Usman Umalatov and Mr A.K. produced service badges of the security service of the Administration of Chechnya, the authenticity of which was also questioned.
On the same day, at about 3 p.m., a group of armed persons arrived at the department in three vehicles. They were headed by Mr B.Sh., who had produced the service badge of the deputy head of the Administration of Chechnya. He demanded that Usman Umalatov be transferred to him, since the latter had served under his command. At the same time, Usman Umalatov was not listed among the employees of the Chechnya Administration that had been submitted by Mr B.Sh. to the district department of the FSB in December 2001. Mr B.Sh. was told that he could wait until Usman Umalatov had been questioned and released, but B.Sh. had left. On the same day at about 4 p.m. the prosecutor of the Nadterechny district Mr S.P. phoned the department and asked if Shamad Durdiyev, the driver of the Grozny town prosecutor, had been detained there. He (Kh.M.) himself called the Grozny prosecutor who confirmed that Shamad Durdiyev worked as a driver in that office.
Later on the same day the formalities concerning Shamad Durdiyev and Usman Umalatov were concluded and he (Kh.M.) ordered to them to provide signed forms attesting the return to them of money and valuables collected upon arrest. Shamad Durdiyev and Usman Umalatov left the FSB department on 15 October 2002. Work with A.K. continued.”
The Government further relayed Kh.M.'s statements about how the relatives of Shamad Durdiyev and Usman Umalatov had come to the department on several occasions after 16 October 2002 and how he had informed them that both men had been released. Kh.M. assured them that his subordinates had nothing to do with the two men's disappearance and that he had no information about their whereabouts. On 15 October 2002 they had not been delivered to any “filtration point”, but a simple check through a data base had taken place.
39.  The head of the district detachments of the Ministry of the Interior, Mr D.A., who was questioned on 26 November 2002, testified that he had witnessed the detention of Usman Umalatov. As cited in the Government observations, on 15 October 2002 he had taken part in the special operation in Nagornoye at the site of the temporary detention point on the road between Goragorsk and Grozny, along with 23 other servicemen. At about 5.30 p.m. a black Volga car, driving at high speed, approached the roadblock from the direction of Goragorsk. The vehicle was forced to brake abruptly, as a result of which it slid into the roadside ditch. Several servicemen immediately ran to the car and detained the driver. According to Mr D.A.'s knowledge, the driver was later transferred to the ROVD and then to the district FSB. The servicemen under his command were not involved in the detention, but supervised and trained the members of the local police force.
40.  In November 2002 the investigation questioned Mr A.K., the third man who had been detained at the FSB district department. According to the Government, he stated that on 15 October 2002 he had been detained together with Usman Umalatov and a third man, whose name he did not know. First the unknown man was taken from the room for questioning, and then later that day, at about 8 p.m., Mr Umalatov. Mr A.K. was released on the following day at about midday, after questioning and having signed a form stating that he had no complaints about the FSB servicemen.
41.  On 19 November 2002 the military prosecutor of military unit no. 2011 examined the black “Volga” car driven by Shamad Durdiyev on the day of his detention. The car was examined on the premises of the Grozny town prosecutor's office and no damage was noted. The Government submitted a copy of the examination report to the Court.
42.  The Government mentioned a number of other documents contained in the investigation file concerning Mr Durdiyev's disappearance. In February 2000 and in August 2002 the Ministry of the Interior and the Grozny town administration issued papers to confirm the latter's active involvement with the Chechen counter-insurgent movements and his participation in the storming of Grozny in January 2000.
43.  The Government stated that the case files also contained copies of the forms signed by Usman Umalatov and Shamad Durdiyev on 15 October 2002 confirming their release and absence of complaints about the FSB, but failed to provide them to the Court. The Government also stated that at some point both forms had been submitted for graphology tests which had confirmed their authenticity, but did not submit copies of those reports either.
44.  According to the Government, the military prosecutors examined the registration logs of the Nadterechny district temporary detention ward and of the ROVD. Copies of the relevant documents were contained in the investigation files. They demonstrated that Shamad Durdiyev and Usman Umalatov had been delivered to the ROVD at 10 a.m. on 15 October 2002 for identification and that on the same day at 10 a.m. both had been transferred to the district department of the FSB, without being placed in detention. The Government did not submit copies of these documents to the Court.
45.  On 20 December 2002 the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20111 concluded that the military servicemen and the servicemen of the FSB had not been implicated in Shamad Durdiyev's disappearance. On the same day he sent the file for further investigation to the district prosecutor's office. The prosecutor sent a number of requests for information to local law-enforcement authorities, medical facilities and detention centres, but these brought about no results.
46.  In their additional memorandum submitted in September 2008 the Government, without indicating the dates and without providing copies of the documents, informed the Court that the investigation into both cases was ongoing. The prosecutors had questioned seven local residents who had been detained on 15 October 2002 or their family members. They confirmed that Shamad Durdiyev and Usman Umalatov had been detained at the local FSB department on that day and that all other detainees had been released and returned home.
47.  Despite specific requests by the Court, the Government did not disclose most of the contents of criminal case files nos. 65048 and 65049. The Government stated that the investigation was in progress and that disclosure of the documents would be in violation of Article 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the files contained information of a military nature and personal data concerning the witnesses or other participants in the criminal proceedings.